About the Museum

A living memorial to the Holocaust

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A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanent place on the National Mall, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors.

Located among our national monuments to freedom on the National Mall, the Museum provides a powerful lesson in the fragility of freedom, the myth of progress, and the need for vigilance in preserving democratic values. With unique power and authenticity, the Museum teaches millions of people each year about the dangers of unchecked hatred and the need to prevent genocide. And we encourage them to act, cultivating a sense of moral responsibility among our citizens so that they will respond to the monumental challenges that confront our world. Read a summary of the Museum's Strategic Plan (PDF).

Today we face an alarming rise in Holocaust denial and antisemitism—even in the very lands where the Holocaust happened—as well as genocide and threats of genocide in other parts of the world. This is occurring just as we approach a time when Holocaust survivors and other eyewitnesses will no longer be alive.

Through our William Levine Family Institute for Holocaust Education, the Museum works closely with many key segments of society who will affect the future of our nation. By studying the choices made by individuals and institutions during the Holocaust, professionals from the fields of law enforcement, the judiciary, and the military, as well as diplomacy, medicine, education, and religion, gain fresh insight into their own responsibilities today.

Since its dedication in 1993, the Museum has welcomed more than 40 million visitors, including 99 heads of state and more than ten million school-age children. Our website, the world’s leading online authority on the Holocaust, is available in 16 languages and was visited in 2015 by more than 16.5 million people representing 211 countries and territories.